Modern Day Jo
Middle sister
Family of five girls and their parents
Got on the Seattle bus in Minneapolis
Modern Day Jo
Middle sister
Trying hard to be the son
Her parents never had
To be the brother
Her siblings never realized
They missed
Baseball cap turned around
To obscure the shoulder length pony tail
Colorful oversized football jersey
Touting some big time team back home
Acting as tunic so big
Over cargo pants
Garments billowing as if conceal the figure
Mannerisms with a video game
Acting more like one of the guys
All obscuring her about-to-emerge age
As if to hold off the day
Soon she'll be in eighth grade
Already you can tell
She'll be distinctive stunning fetching confident
Blonde hair bright face intelligent carriage easy smile
Her entire life ahead of her
Full of potential
Could end up doing anything
Self-guided
Instinct-informed
Preparing herself with everything she's learned
Modern Day Jo
Middle sister
Family of five girls and their parents
Got on the Seattle bus in Minneapolis
Modern Day Jo
Middle sister
Trying hard to be the son
Her parents never had
To be the brother
Her siblings never realized
They missed
For Conversations With Walt
Denis J. Kelly
November 30, 2011
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
What James Joyce Was Getting At
This is what Joyce was getting at
Streams of consciousness
Associations rich with texture from a variety of places
Renaissance romantic
Good wine great books intriguing music funny combinations
Afternoon seminar around a huge old wooden conference table
Carved initials
Discussions about Lowell and Baudelaire and Chaucer and Dickenson
Washington Square Park on a crisp January sunny Saturday afternoon,
Breaths from conversations and laughter appearing pre-frozen in mid air
Like conversation balloons for a sketch cartoonist
"On what a beautiful morning/
Everything's going my way"
Courtesy of Robert Goulet booming mellow like fine aged scotch
Robert Goulet knew what James Joyce was getting at
Continuing into the late afternoon in a large old mansion
With ceiling to floor windows
Looking out on topiaries laden with food for birds and beasts
With the sun making a reflective statement on the water
Before darkening into the later day with huge fireplaces on all four walls blazing
And a table set for tea as the chamber music quartet begins
To play Mozart and The Beatles,
And the Shakespearean readers take their place on a rise near the table
For readings more discussions
Dinner is cooking in the kitchen,
Roast chicken, baked apples, potaoes, carrots, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Mozart The Beatles Simon and Garfunkel knew what James Joyce was getting at
Eleanor Rigby and Father Mackenzie and Mother Nature's Son
And the Sisters of the Sun are gonna rock me on the water/
Rock me on the water/ Sister, won't you soothe my fevered brow/
On so the sampling goes thank you so much Jackson Browne
Ah Jacksone Brown you know
You know what James Joyce was getting at
After tea, alone time in the topiary gardens
Beside the ponds
Grateful for the warm sun
A special gift on a November day
Geese, ducks, gulls, squirrels, little birds,
Breezes rustling the drying hydrangeas,
And making tiny ripples in the ponds that make a lovely little splashing sound
Voices music the smell of drying flowers and sweet herbs
And the roasting dinner in the great kitchen
Intoxication of being warm in the sun
Resting and journaling in a quiet room before dinner
Contentment found in solitude
Vintage gowns in the wardrobe too
Choose one for dinner
Choose a high-necked ong-sleeved purple satin
With a fitted bodice and straight skirt and slight train.
Also a purple shawl and small purple hat
Dinner partner approaches down the Oak lined path
Riding the stallion right up to the door
Buckskins leathers for the road and the hunt
Dust and caked mud dried from deep in the woods
Bearing a fresh catch for tomorrow's meal
Ah but for today a fresh poem for this day's dinner
A poem for dinner yes
Two words yes
My love
Another word
Thanksgiving
Thank you for makers of Thanksgiving dinner tables laden with all the fixins
Mounds of textures colors aromas tending to mix together
They knew yes
The makers of Thanksgiving dinners knew
They knew they know what James Joyce was getting at
So much texture
Incredible
So many colors shades smells
All the senses all sensibilities all the means of expression
Nourishing nurturing
Warren Beatty, himself, quoting someone
Delivering a line
"Give me character I'll give you plot"
We say here's the corollary
"Give me stream of consciousness it'll give you character"
Or some such thing
It's story-telling the gift of the Gods to we mere mortals
Who act as conduits to explore
What the heck we are doing in this thing called life, time, and space
Warren Beatty knew what James Joyce was getting at
Yes and don't forget
Warm luscious incredible banana bread right out of the oven
And the parsley and rosemary cut fresh from the garden so fragrant
For the carriage ride back home
To remember to savor to fold into feelings
Given by one to another
Generosity enriched by textures colors in hearts minds and senses
Streams of consciousness
Becoming manifest washed down by tea laughter smiles
Thanks and thanks and more thanks
For days after
Ah what James Joyce was getting at
For Conversations With Walt
Denis J. Kelly
Nov. 6, 2011
Streams of consciousness
Associations rich with texture from a variety of places
Renaissance romantic
Good wine great books intriguing music funny combinations
Afternoon seminar around a huge old wooden conference table
Carved initials
Discussions about Lowell and Baudelaire and Chaucer and Dickenson
Washington Square Park on a crisp January sunny Saturday afternoon,
Breaths from conversations and laughter appearing pre-frozen in mid air
Like conversation balloons for a sketch cartoonist
"On what a beautiful morning/
Everything's going my way"
Courtesy of Robert Goulet booming mellow like fine aged scotch
Robert Goulet knew what James Joyce was getting at
Continuing into the late afternoon in a large old mansion
With ceiling to floor windows
Looking out on topiaries laden with food for birds and beasts
With the sun making a reflective statement on the water
Before darkening into the later day with huge fireplaces on all four walls blazing
And a table set for tea as the chamber music quartet begins
To play Mozart and The Beatles,
And the Shakespearean readers take their place on a rise near the table
For readings more discussions
Dinner is cooking in the kitchen,
Roast chicken, baked apples, potaoes, carrots, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Mozart The Beatles Simon and Garfunkel knew what James Joyce was getting at
Eleanor Rigby and Father Mackenzie and Mother Nature's Son
And the Sisters of the Sun are gonna rock me on the water/
Rock me on the water/ Sister, won't you soothe my fevered brow/
On so the sampling goes thank you so much Jackson Browne
Ah Jacksone Brown you know
You know what James Joyce was getting at
After tea, alone time in the topiary gardens
Beside the ponds
Grateful for the warm sun
A special gift on a November day
Geese, ducks, gulls, squirrels, little birds,
Breezes rustling the drying hydrangeas,
And making tiny ripples in the ponds that make a lovely little splashing sound
Voices music the smell of drying flowers and sweet herbs
And the roasting dinner in the great kitchen
Intoxication of being warm in the sun
Resting and journaling in a quiet room before dinner
Contentment found in solitude
Vintage gowns in the wardrobe too
Choose one for dinner
Choose a high-necked ong-sleeved purple satin
With a fitted bodice and straight skirt and slight train.
Also a purple shawl and small purple hat
Dinner partner approaches down the Oak lined path
Riding the stallion right up to the door
Buckskins leathers for the road and the hunt
Dust and caked mud dried from deep in the woods
Bearing a fresh catch for tomorrow's meal
Ah but for today a fresh poem for this day's dinner
A poem for dinner yes
Two words yes
My love
Another word
Thanksgiving
Thank you for makers of Thanksgiving dinner tables laden with all the fixins
Mounds of textures colors aromas tending to mix together
They knew yes
The makers of Thanksgiving dinners knew
They knew they know what James Joyce was getting at
So much texture
Incredible
So many colors shades smells
All the senses all sensibilities all the means of expression
Nourishing nurturing
Warren Beatty, himself, quoting someone
Delivering a line
"Give me character I'll give you plot"
We say here's the corollary
"Give me stream of consciousness it'll give you character"
Or some such thing
It's story-telling the gift of the Gods to we mere mortals
Who act as conduits to explore
What the heck we are doing in this thing called life, time, and space
Warren Beatty knew what James Joyce was getting at
Yes and don't forget
Warm luscious incredible banana bread right out of the oven
And the parsley and rosemary cut fresh from the garden so fragrant
For the carriage ride back home
To remember to savor to fold into feelings
Given by one to another
Generosity enriched by textures colors in hearts minds and senses
Streams of consciousness
Becoming manifest washed down by tea laughter smiles
Thanks and thanks and more thanks
For days after
Ah what James Joyce was getting at
For Conversations With Walt
Denis J. Kelly
Nov. 6, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Samantha Ashland Smiled
Samantha Ashland smiled
Camping out in line
Waiting for the bus out of Chicago
To Madison Wisconsin
She wore pigtails newly braided
While she sat waiting for her chariot to come in
Other clothing too hinted
At a by-gone era the time of the hippies
But nothing ostentatious
Nothing obvious
Nothing dirty ratty or rag-like
Worn sure and faded from use
But clean and subtle the prints
The tie-dyes the back pack
Authentic
Believed in
A wrap clung to the stick she carried
"Fragile" sticker adhered
Not a hint of what was inside
Lacrosse stick nah
Field hockey nah
Ceremonial totem maybe
Missionary's peace pipe oh yeah
She sat cross-legged on the floor
Made her own space in the bus station
Patiently waiting for her carpet to arrive
Samantha Ashland smiled
Camping out in line
Waiting for the bus out of Chicago
To lead her to Madison Wisconsin
For Conversations With Walt
Denis J. Kelly
Nov. 1, 2011
Camping out in line
Waiting for the bus out of Chicago
To Madison Wisconsin
She wore pigtails newly braided
While she sat waiting for her chariot to come in
Other clothing too hinted
At a by-gone era the time of the hippies
But nothing ostentatious
Nothing obvious
Nothing dirty ratty or rag-like
Worn sure and faded from use
But clean and subtle the prints
The tie-dyes the back pack
Authentic
Believed in
A wrap clung to the stick she carried
"Fragile" sticker adhered
Not a hint of what was inside
Lacrosse stick nah
Field hockey nah
Ceremonial totem maybe
Missionary's peace pipe oh yeah
She sat cross-legged on the floor
Made her own space in the bus station
Patiently waiting for her carpet to arrive
Samantha Ashland smiled
Camping out in line
Waiting for the bus out of Chicago
To lead her to Madison Wisconsin
For Conversations With Walt
Denis J. Kelly
Nov. 1, 2011
Bleary-Eyed And Punch Drunk
Bleary-eyed and punch drunk
Stunned
There comes a time
When a body
Just needs to get some sleep
Give in to the battle
Quiet the voices
Back behind the inner ear
Recurring verses from
Some pop song of a few years ago
Relax against the unusual posture
Of sitting upright in a seat
Rocking chair
And a 2 a.m. movie
Coaxing sleep to overcome
Why won't it come
Just let it happen
Snooze
Anything other than
Bleary-eyed and punch drunk
Stunned
There comes a time
When a body
Just needs to get some sleep
For Conversations With Walt
Denis J. Kelly
Nov. 1, 2011
Stunned
There comes a time
When a body
Just needs to get some sleep
Give in to the battle
Quiet the voices
Back behind the inner ear
Recurring verses from
Some pop song of a few years ago
Relax against the unusual posture
Of sitting upright in a seat
Rocking chair
And a 2 a.m. movie
Coaxing sleep to overcome
Why won't it come
Just let it happen
Snooze
Anything other than
Bleary-eyed and punch drunk
Stunned
There comes a time
When a body
Just needs to get some sleep
For Conversations With Walt
Denis J. Kelly
Nov. 1, 2011
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